Warmer Homes and Lower Bills - The impact of the renovation wave

Abstract

Soaring gas prices are highlighting the vulnerability of countries and households to market instability. One way to help insulate the most vulnerable from such instability is to reduce their demand for gas by improving the quality of their homes. An initiative such as the European Commission’s Renovation Wave, which aims to renovate 35 million homes by 2030, has the potential to reduce gas demand across the EU by about 43,000 GWh annually. In doing so, dependence on gas imports could be reduced by €3.3bn per year, and household gas bills could be lowered by around €400 per year (a reduction in gas heating costs of around 50%). To achieve such benefits, policies should be designed in such a way that retrofitting schemes operate smoothly, and drive renovation at pace and at scale. We are at a point now in the climate debate where we need to deliver homes that are fit for the future.